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Robert Dudley: No questions, please. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley, in a speech this morning at the annual CERAweek conference in Houston, downplayed the Deepwater Horizon trial underway in New Orleans. He canceled his post-speech press conference, likely because he didn't want to be asked about the likelihood of settling with the Department of Justice. And in his speech he neglected to speak much at all about the changes that he has wrought during his 2.5 years at the helm of BP. This is too bad, because what the gathered suits at CERAweek would really like to hear from Dudley is a litany of reasons to believe that BP is back, solid, secure, safe.

Instead, what Dudley focused most of his speech on was a view of the oil and gas industry from 10,000 feet -- frankly the things that most of the crowd here already know. "If there is an overarching message it is this," he said. "What we face today in energy is a series of challenging opportunities -- from the shales of America to the snows of Siberia." Indeed.

Dudley insisted today that global energy demand is going up, that "the world will need 16 million barrels per day more in 2030 than today." While there's lots of oil and gas out there to meet that demand, said Dudley, it's ever harder to extract -- and subject to political threats like the attack on the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria a few weeks ago. The key to the future, says Dudley will be Russia and the United States, the nation that pumps the most oil and the one that is enjoying the most growth of supply. In the U.S. BP is actively drilling shales and contributing to the supply miracle. In Russia BP is now teamed up with Rosneft -- which bought its stake in TNK-BP in exchange for cash and a 20% equity stake -- and will seek to deploy its shale-cracking technology there.

Dudley spoke only a little bit about the Deepwater Horizon issue. He says BP has spent $24 billion on the response, clean-up and paying claims. On the ongoing trial he said only that "We are vigorously defending the company, but we are determined to make our case in the courtroom and not in the press. We believe the law and the facts are on our side, and we have faith in the legal system." No wonder he canceled his press conference.

Dudley says that BP is plunging ahead in the Gulf of Mexico, with seven deepwater rigs working there. BP has invested $55 billion in the U.S. over the past five years. It has 21,000 employees here and produces 675,000 bpd in the U.S. It's building the world's largest commercial supercomputing research facility here in Houston.

Dudley closed his speech stating that BP "has made good" on his promises to "emerge from the Deepwater Horizon accident as a safer, stronger, more sustainable company." Maybe so, but we would have liked to hear more details to back that up.